The Streets of New York City
by ascreamingstrawberry
Summary: You could find many things in the streets of New York City, anything from a guitarist looking to make some extra cash on the side or a big booming marque with a person's name in bright lights that probably a million times the number of follows on Instagram you have. But Mike Chang really didn't care about any of those things because in the streets of New York City, he found love.
1. Chapter 1

Mike wasn't exactly sure how he ended up roaming the very vast amount of lonely yet crowded New York City streets, with a bit of alcohol in his system and an odd empty feeling settled into the middle of his chest. His muscles ached from a long day of rehearsing his ass off in the studio, hoping to land that audition for some new dance-centric Romeo and Juliet. He shouldn't be walking home, he was still very new to the city and he was in more pain than he would like to admit from rehearsal. But if he hadn't been walking, hadn't not taken a cab, he would have never bumped into her.

She was as different as he hoped her to be. Well, Michael couldn't say he'd hoped to see her at all, in fact his Asian pessimism as he calls it, would have guessed that she had been washed up by now. That the Big Apple would have taken a big old bite outta her and her Lima-born Broadway Star dreams, leaving her nothing but a directionless void like himself.

Tina had made him that way, she had taken him for all he was worth letting his dancing lead her into the spotlight and then pushed him away from it. Only to return back to Artie, who had done wrong by her numerous amounts of times while Mike only wanted to be good for her, good by her. Whole lot of good that did either of them, at least he still had dancing.

He hadn't seen anyone from Lima in a while, so he was partly happy and partly sad that they ran into each other on the street. Happy, because god he missed being that naive and joyful and sad, because that had been taken away from him with age.

Her eyes were as bright as ever, filled with dreams and she looked like she had been really accomplishing some of them lately. Mike thought she looked better than he ever had. Her hair was pulled back at the top, but that was hidden underneath a red beret that he was sure was from her high school years. She was in a bright yellow dress with green flowers all around it, clearly New York had not made her anymore, or any less, of a fashionista.

"Michael." She said, her tongue slipping through the space in between her bottom and top set of teeth as she smiled.

"Rachel Berry, the gorgeous superstar, as she lives and breathes." He smiled, goofy and probably very unattractive looking, but he could always blame it on the alcohol.

"Not to bad yourself there, buddy." She said, shaking her head as if still in amazement that he was here. "How have you been? I haven't heard from you, or even about you, since-"

"Not much has changed I'm afraid. I'm floating from big city to big city, charming them with my amazing dance moves, and hopping train before anyone can realize how internally empty and unfulfilled I feel." He said, laughing darkly as he stared at the ground trying to sober himself.

"Oh." She said sadly, and he hated how she turned her head to where he was staring, not curious, just sad. He didn't like it when she looked sad, it just wasn't here. Dramatic, upset, angry, excitement. Those fit the marvelous Rachel Berry, sad did not.

"Sorry, you'll have to forgive me, rehearsals have been running me a bit thin lately and I decided to take myself out for a drink. Because no one else was certainly going to do it." He looked up to meet her eyes again, and giggled at himself. "I didn't make it better, did I?"

"You were never a well worded guy, Michael, so I forgive you." She said, reaching over to run her hand over his shoulder. His silence continued and she widened her eyes for a moment before shaking her head. "Not that you were stupid, or are stupid, cause you're not. I just meant you were quiet."

"You're failing just as much as I am." He said, playfully.

The two stood there for a moment before eyes wondered, hers traveled down and up his body again. She could just been checking him out, but she wouldn't tell him ever that she was secretly searching for signs. Signs that he was doing any worse off than he said he was. He looked tired, his whole body slumped but not in an unhealthy way, more like he just needed a better bed. His hair looked like he put a lot less effort into it than he did when they were in high school. He was wearing a black button up, fading lightly probably from overuse or under wash, and bright red skinny jeans. She would be lying if she said she didn't check out how good Mike looked as the colored denim clung to his thighs, bulging slightly with the muscles he had earned from years of dance practice.

Mike was taking her in too, however he was looking at the brown of her eyes. The way they surprisingly didn't remind him of Tina, in fact anything but. They looked lighter when Rachel smiled, and they drew you into that fire inside her, the one that burned for the Broadway stage and a packed audience. Her nose was just as it always was, the thing she hated most about herself but probably one of the biggest things that made her Rachel Berry. And her lips were where his attention eventually fell, focusing on the beautifully natural shade of pink they were because he knew she didn't like the feeling of lipstick or lip gloss.

"So." Mike swallowed thickly, his head tuning into the little hiccup she made when he spoke but his eyes stuck to her lips. He gave a look that he hoped went for sultry but probably looked more like lopsided. "I'd invite you back to my place, but a motel room ain't no place for a star like you."

"Michael." She blushed, and that drew his attention from her lips to the rosy color of her cheeks as she adorably titled her head toward her shoes.

"I love when you call me that." He blurted out, very smoothly and not slurred at all.

"Your name?" She answered playfully.

"You know what I mean." He said, shaking his head as if to clear the thoughts running through his head. Very ungentlemanly thoughts.

He couldn't shake how he probably looked to her. He might has well of just walked up to her and went "We used to go to high school together, you were the best singer and I was the best dancer. and now we're here in your dream city in the middle of the night, haven't seen each other in years and I'm a little drunk but goddamn it I can't stop staring at your pretty lips."

"How about we go back to my place then?" She said breaking the silence, not comfortable just present, that had settled in.

"Okay." He smiled goof-like as she reached down at grabbed at his hand to pull him through the streets of New York. That's exactly what it ended up being too. He fell a little behind as she tugged him through the nearly 2 am streets telling him of all that happened since they had seen each other. He couldn't complain either because god, she looked so damn beautiful talking about some stupid thing Britt had said last week or whatever it was she was talking about now. He hadn't felt this happy in years and it was settling in his stomach much better than the alcohol had felt, so he was definitely glad to have reached her building.


	2. Chapter 2

Rachel eventually calmed down from her sprint enough to let Mike catch his breath. Their speed slowed even further while Rachel was failing to text someone and walk at the same time. Her new phone had a bright pink case with small gold star stickers scattered across the back of it, but even then it seemed so calm for the one and only Rachel Berry. Mike was quietly humming next to her as they sauntered through the streets of the Big Apple, her eyes furrowed in concentration at whoever she was texting at half past 2 am in the morning until she huffed and stuffed her phone into her pocket turning to look at him.

"Good?" He asked, and she swallowed before nodding. They walked for a couple minutes longer before Mike leaned a bit to the right letting his shoulder bump into hers as she stumbled lightly before repeating the action. They went back and forth for a few times before Mike got a little competitive with a shove that nearly sent her into the road. Fluid as ever, he reached out to wrap his arm around her back to stop her from falling over, and he could totally say that he was just pulling her to his chest to help her keep her balance.

She tucked her heard into his chest, her hair brushing against the lower part of his arm. He smiled, enjoying the feeling of her up against him in every bit of him from the tip of his toes to, well, other parts. His head was fuzzy, probably from fatigue, or probably from the way her voice was tickling at the little bit of skin poking out from the top of shirt as she mumbled something.

"Hm?" He pulled her back for a moment.

"I said, we're here." She smiled, pointing behind him to an apartment complex. He let her slip away from him, her hand trailing down back to his wrist as she pulled him inside. She waved to her doorman as they stood by the elevators, each taking their turn to steal a glance at the other when they weren't looking. The second time Mike tried, just to get one last good look at those beautiful lips of hers, she caught him. He blushed and she smiled, tilting her head down to her shoes before laughing.

"We might as well be teenagers." Mike laughed, hers was infectious after all. The elevator opened and the two stepped in. He would be lying if he said he didn't check her backside out as she leaned over to press the button. They both opened their mouths to speak, but nothing but air came out. Then the doors opened and she was pushing him up against the wall of the floor that he assumed was hers.

She got awful close to his face, they were practically millimeters apart so much so that her hair was falling against the side of his cheek. She was going to kiss him, he thought. He closed his eyes, and she moved her head to the side, her breath catching on his ear as she whispered "Stay right here."

And like that, she was gone. She was running down the hall, opening a door and before throwing herself inside she sent him one last finger to tell him not to move. He wasn't planning on disobeying Rachel Berry anytime soon.

As he closed his eyes, the anxiety of what might happen as soon as he walked in there nearly kept him from moving when he heard her voice call after him. But ultimately Mike Chang could never resist Rachel Berry, and so when she called for him again, he practically sprinted for the door.

He didn't know what he was expecting when he followed Rachel Berry back to her place at half past 2 am, but it was not to see four of his other old classmates smiling back at him inside the dimly lit apartment. Santana, Brittany, Blaine, and Kurt were standing in Rachel's living room with an unrolled paper towel roll between them with 'Welcome to New York Mike!' written in sharpie.

"Well?" Rachel said, with her arms open in a very ta-da fashion.

"Guys." Mike said, choking up a little at it. He ran towards his friend, arms wide, as they all (well Santana reluctantly) succumbed to one big group hug. He pulled back, got a good look at their faces cause he hadn't seen any of them in years either. They all looked tired, probably due to the fact that it was nearly 3 by now, and Blaine was leaning lazily against Kurt's shoulder. Santana and Rachel had slipped away to the kitchen to grab something and Mike turned to Brittany, getting a good look at his old best friend.

"It's about time, Mikey." Britt said, wrapping her arm around his shoulder. He smiled, didn't really reply, just kind of nodded along as she began to catch him up on her life.

Santana and Rachel returned with coffees for everyone, her fingers lingering a little bit longer than needed when she was handing Mike his. After Britt was done, Kurt and Blaine with coffee in their systems, started showing him about ten million photos of their 1 and a half year old daughter Hepburn. Mike refused to comment on the name, but agreed that her and their dog (Bowtie, named appropriately considering Blaine's addiction to them) were absolutely adorable.

"She's going to be a perfect little star just like her birth mother right, Rachel?" Kurt asked and Rachel hummed in response as she sipped her coffee and looked over the pictures she's probably seen already or at least taken a couple. Mike looked over one, the girl had wavy red hair (not sure where she got that from) but she didn't really resemble Rachel in anyway, plus she didn't have the adorable Rachel Berry nose.

By the time everyone was crashing for the Sunday morning that had rolled in they all announced they had the day off but were too lazy to go back to their respective homes. Hepburn was being watched by a friend of Kurt's from his company as Rachel texted them just as their 'date night' was ending. And by the time he was fighting with Rachel about refusing to let her take the floor (Santana and Brittany were in the guest bedroom, and Kurt and Blaine were in the living room spread out over the futon), he couldn't get the idea of a little Rachel Berry out of his head.

Big brown eyes, the nose, that bright smile that knew it could anyway with almost anything in his eyes. So by the time he had convinced Rachel to share the queen sized bed, he was dreaming of a little Berry with one tucked into his left side snoring next to him softly.


End file.
